For the love of Stanislaw Lem

[Tamahome]

Chime in if you have a love of Stanislaw Lem like Bryan and Tom. No haters please!

[Casey]

Haven't read him yet, but really want to.

[Joanna Chaplin]

What's his most accessible work?

[Sean]

Joanna wrote: "What's his most accessible work?"

The Cyberiad is one of the best sci-fi comedies ever written.

[Tamahome]

It's short stories too, so you can take them in small bytes.

[terpkristin]

I enjoyed Solaris. I listened to the "definitive" edition from Audible, which was really good.

No idea on Memoirs or any of the other stories.

[Alicja]

My dad has an entire collection in its original Polish, it was the first sci-fi I read as a kid. Its what made me love sci-fi in general. I must make some time to re-read them now again.

[Michal]

Heck yeah. Lemme get my hands on some more Lem!

[Tamahome]

Or...you could see the Congress movie based on one of his books. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkDyK...

[Michal]

Well...kind of based. I don't remember the woman from The Princess Bride being a character in The Futurological Congress.

[Jlawrence, S&L Moderator]

Sean wrote: "Joanna wrote: "What's his most accessible work?"

The Cyberiad is one of the best sci-fi comedies ever written."

Agreed, The Cyberiad is accessible, imaginative and funny. I remember The Star Diaries: Further Reminiscences of Ijon Tichy, another collection of linked short stories, being pretty approachable, too. Some of the situations Tichy gets into might be conceptually twisted - but it's all handled with a light, humorous touch.

Solaris is more serious - solid, spooky speculative fiction. Imaginary Magnitude - a book of introductions to (non-existant) books of the future - is also interesting, if not quite as good as those others.

But yes, I like the Lem. If we'd read any of the above instead of opaque and post-modern-tricksy Memoirs Found in a Bathtub as an official S&L pick, we would very likely not have lem as a verb (and what would the S&L set's dragon be named then!).

[Tamahome]

I've heard the new audible translation of Solaris is much better.

[terpkristin]

Tamahome wrote: "I've heard the new audible translation of Solaris is much better."

It's the one I listened to and loved. Luke loved it, too.

[Michal]

I read it in Polish. The old English translation was translated from the French translation of the Polish original.

[Sean]

Jlawrence wrote: "But yes, I like the Lem. If we'd read any of the above instead of opaque and post-modern-tricksy Memoirs Found in a Bathtub as an official S&L pick, we would very likely not have lem as a verb (and what would the S&L set's dragon be named then!)."

Yeah, I liked Memoirs, but it's not a book I'd recommend to anyone who isn't a Lvl 12 English Professor with +5 PoMo. It's like trying to get someone hooked on Tolkien by giving them a copy of The Silmarillion.

[Ivi_kiwi]

I also liked the ijon tichy stories. I read them in german and i liked the translation.

[Tamahome]

Happy Birthday Stanislaw Lem!

[Tom, Supreme Laser]

Sean wrote: "Jlawrence wrote: "But yes, I like the Lem. If we'd read any of the above instead of opaque and post-modern-tricksy Memoirs Found in a Bathtub as an official S&L pick, we would very likely not have ..."

I KNOW!

heh

[Tamahome]

Head writer David X. Cohen says Stanislaw Lem was a big influence on Futurama on the Geek's Guide to the Galaxy podcast. http://geeksguideshow.com/2014/09/19/...